Thursday, September 16, 2010

I've met Iñárritu’s cinematography through Babel (2006) and 21 Grams (2003) and I'm waiting impatiently for his Biutiful which will be in theatres this October (in France). However, I think Amores Perros will remain as my favorite. It’s a drama that captures you from its first scene and takes you deep to the dark sides of human nature. You want to stop the movie to breathe but you are sticked to your chair and make a journey to Mexican suburbs, see the violence, explore the unpleasant conditions of living, witness to disturbing bloody scenes and travel in real conditions of outskirts (not of a décor) with Iñárritu’s camera. Somehow, it appears as if it’s a sad documentary of a culture, of a group of individuals.

The film focuses on three lives that minimally linked to each other. The movie might have even been divided into three volumes, since it is a considerably long movie (two and a half hours) and sometimes losing its pace. However I think it would have been much boring, since this minimal overlapping gives the energy to the movie. The stories are heartbreaking, brutal, bloody and emotional. We see what people can do to earn money, how their characters can be corrupted and how they can even normalize killing other people to make a living.

I found the structure of storytelling very well thought. Even the movie is a bit long, nothing is irrelevant I think. It makes back and forward loopings but without confusion or losing its focus. On the contrary, those loopings show the links between the stories and takes you from one dramatic story to the other without shame, puts everything in a most realistic way. You suffer from the realism of its drama and violence; you are sad sometimes, swearing sometimes…

I really appreciate the movie for its spontaneous acting performance which includes Gael García Bernal (whom I believe grabbed the first attention in the film industry with this movie) and Emilio Echevarría (whom I adore adore adore in this movie. I should definitely see some other movies of him, but he was adorable in this character who run away from his past and abandoned by the society, trying to make a living in his squat and companying with his dogs).The movie completes itself with its remarkable Gustavo Santaolalla music whom I like a lot. (He made the soundtracks of 21 grams, Babel and The Motorcycle Diaries too. Babel is one of my favorite movie soundtracks.) Even if you don't watch the movie, you should check the track “Tema Amores Perros” of him. Adorable!
As a brief, Amores Perros is hurtful and serious. I’m not saying you need extra courage to watch this movie but you should keep in your mind that this movie touches your extreme fragile feelings and takes you from one end of sensation to the other, shakes you through its story... I can say, this movie bitches with you.